Remember to Forget
by Mayme
Summary: A semiresponse to a challange. Sara deals with her past and future with family and friends on Lake Meade.


Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to CSI or it's affiliates. I am merely a fan whose would like to take already established characters into a story of my own rendering.

Note: This is a response to a challange on the Nick Sara fanfiction group on yahoo. It's not exactly what was required of the challange, but it's kinda been something I've wanted to do regarding Sara's past so I hope everyone enjoys.

Remember to Forget

Sitting in a light blue bikini at the edge of Lake Meade, Sara started into the man-made body of water and thought of California. For a moment, she smiled as her thoughts drifted to a time when she was happy there. Just the four of them. Mom, Dad, Brian and herself.

_The bed and breakfast her parents owned had been something of an early learning experience to Sara. Strangers can be really comfortable to be around. But they're still strangers._

_You still don't know who they are._

_She turned her thoughts to the beach at Tamales Bay. Brian taught her to spell by tracing letters in the sand. She taught him how to do a cartwheel. Mom would call them in when it was dark. Dad would tuck her into bed at night. It was all perfect and peaceful._

_Nothing lasts forever._

_Her parents started arguing. Most of the guests couldn't hear anything as their room were on the upper floors. But Sara always heard. Dad was sleeping with some of the tenants and mom found out. But he was still the man of the house and he made sure mom knew it. Sara shuddered as she remembered sitting on the stairs watching her father beat her mother for something he'd done._

_When her parents argued, Brian would always leave his room to find Sara. More times than not, he'd find her on the stairs. Quietly, so as not to alert their father, Brian would coax his little sister into her room and he'd sleep on her floor while she silently cried herself to sleep._

_Life became uneasy at home for about two years. There was no more innocent playing in the sand. Sara's father saw to it that she studied constantly. Brian, who was several years older, was sent to a prepatory school. Sara's mother rarely looked anyone in the eye. Probably to hide the black eyes that couldn't quite be covered with makeup more than anything else. Everything was sad and tense._

_Until that fateful night._

_Brian snuck inside the large house and slinked his way to Sara's room. He gently woke her and after seeing the smile on her face, he realized she probably hadn't smiled much since he'd left. They hugged and talked until they heard a scream._

_The house contained only one guest that evening. A businessman who was also a regular by the name of John Maryweather. He too heard the sounds and ran out of his room to find both Sara and Brian rushing out of Sara's room and down the stairs. The sight they saw would be one that would be etched in all their memories forever. Laying in a pool of blood was their Raymond Sidle, full of stab wounds. Slowly backing up was their mother, who was still holding the knife. She too was bloody on her face and arms. John ran to the phone and dialed the police while Brian and Sara moved towards their mother._

_"I couldn't take it anymore. I just couldn't." Was all Laura Sile told her children._

Sighing, Sara watched the waves. She thought the nightmare was over then. But they took her mother away and sentenced her to life in prison instead of giving her a medal for standing up to her husband. Sara was sent to foster care and Brian back to prep school.

Brian went to college and later moved to New York. It was one of the reasons Sara went to Harvard was to be close to him. They'd meet on the weekends and share stories and sushi. When Sara decided to move back to California, Brian refused to go. He vowed never to return and was keeping to his word.

Sara went anyway.

After being offered a job in Las Vegas, she again tried to get her brother near her. But he said he'd only visit.

And visit he was doing now. Sara watched her brother play with his two little girls while his wife took pictures. It was the first time Sara had seen the kids and the old feeling of happiness was returning.

"Hey! I thought that was you!" Came a familiar voice heading towards Sara. She turned to see Greg, the source of the voice, followed by Warrick and Nick rushing towards her. Without invitation, Greg plopped down on the towels while Warrick and Nick joined them on the blanket.

"So what brings you here on this beautiful Vegas day?" Greg asked as he started rummaging through the bag he sat next to, pulling out sunscreen, and sunglasses that obviously didn't belong to her as they were too small.

Sara yanked the items from his hand while Greg pulled out a tiny yellow polka dot bikini. "This is a bit small to be yours."

"OK, this stuff belongs to my nieces. Out there." Sara pointed to where her brother was walking out of the water with his girls and joined hands with his wife as they made their way back to where the foursome was sitting.

"You mentioned a brother once before." Warrick said looking at the family, "But never kids."

"I've only seen them a handful of times since they were born. They all live in upstate New York where my brother is a lawyer and my sister-in-law is a doctor."

Greg smiled, "So if your sister-in-law gets in trouble with malpractice, your brother can defend her. That's brilliant!"

Nick jabbed Greg in the side, but quickly turned his attention back to Sara, "So why did you keep it all a secret. I always tell you about my nieces and nephews."

"That you do" Warrick said rolling his eyes. It was Warricks turn to get a jab from Nick.

Recovering, Nick continued, "My point is that we're our own little family here and you can tell us anything."

Sara smiled. "I know. I do. It's just that there are somethings that require more explanation that I'm not ready to share."

But before Sara could be questioned any further, Brian and his family joined the CSIs, who stood up to greet the family. Sara smiled, "Guys, this is my brother, Brian, his wife, Emily, and their girls, Lily, and Daisy. Everyone, I'd like you to meet some of my coworkers who just happened to see us here. Warrick, Greg, and Nick." Sara said pointing to each person as she introduced them. The adults took turns shaking hands and the girls ran behind Sara and peeked out from behind each leg shyly.

Warrick, who was always great with kids, knelt down and smiled brightly at the two. "Hey girls, want to see something funny?"

Unsure of what to so, they girls looked up at Sara, who nodded her approval. They slowly walked out from behind Sara, but stayed close to her. Nick couldn't help but notice that Sara motherly-like held a hand on each of her nieces' shoulders. They watched as Warrick moved towards Greg. "Take your shirt off."

"Man, I'm not doing that!"

"Come on man. It's funny."

"No, it was mean and I don't appreciate what you and Nick did not me."

"Well, we would have buried you, but you know how Nick is with that."

"Hey! That's still a sensitive subject!" Nick said, momentarily taking his gaze away from Sara and focusing his glare towards his friends. Although he was able to joke about it sometimes, everyone always followed his lead. This had been the first time that someone had joked first.

But Nick's eyes softened quickly. His therapist had said to talk about it and that laughter was often the best medicine. His glare followed his eyes and his glare turned to a wicked smile. "Besides, I couldn't get that damn plastic coffin out of evidence."

Everyone was quite for a moment, but they realized the joke he was trying to make. All chuckled, including Brian and Emily, whom Sara had informed regarding the events from a few months back.

After a pause, Greg grumbled while removing his shirt and turned so the group could see what the fuss was about. The girls giggled and Sara smiled. Greg's sunburned back was a red as an apple save for the lettering that Warrick and Nick had spelled using suntan lotion. The almost white lettering spelled Labrat and was slightly lopsided. It looked like Warrick's handwriting until the R, where it seems that Nick took over.

Poor Greg had slept through the whole thing.

Warrick, who was still standing near the girls, focused his attention back to them, "OK, I'll give you a choice. We can build sandcastles first, or do you want to play in the water first?"

"Sandcastles!" The girls squealed and ran away from the protection of their aunt and ran down the beach to find the perfect sandcastle spot followed by Greg and Warrick. Emily looked at Brian, then at Sara and smiled.

"I better go help. I don't think your friends know what they've gotten themselves into." Giving her husband a quick kiss, she jogged down the beach to join the others.

Brian chuckled and looked back at his sister and Nick, who seemed to be too close for comfort. Well, at least for Brian's comfort. He'd never been there for Sara when she was in high school or college when she needed a brother to protect her from boys. Now, from the looks of it, she might need help. Encouragement, perhaps. Between Gil Grissom, her boss, and Nick, she wasn't sure which one he'd heard more about. It was obvious that Nick was looking at her with eyes reserved for someone who had more than a friendly eye towards the person sitting next to them. But Sara was oblivious as she stared down the beach to catch a sight of Warrick holding Greg upside down while the girls fed him chips.

"Well, Nick, I've heard a lot about you. It's finally a pleasure to meet you." Brian said holding out his hand.

Nick took his gaze away from Sara and looked at Brian as if he knew he'd been caught. But Brian gave him a knowing and happy look, which seemed to indicate encouragement. Nick smiled brightly, "Well, Sara doesn't talk much about her family, but from what she's told me about you, it's certainly a pleasure to meet you as well. Now if we could just meet your parents, we'd know that Sara really was more than just an angel who appeared on earth one day with not other explanation."

Brian shot Sara a quick glance and by the avoidance of her eyes told him that she'd never told anyone about their family history. It was best to drop the subject and move on. "Well, we're not very close to our parents, so it might be a while before you ever see them."

If Nick knew something, he didn't let on, "You know what, I think solving Sara one mystery at a time is enough for me."

Brian was satisfied and after a short conversation of getting to know you, Brian looked down the shoreline to see that Greg was now in the water and the girls on top as if they might drown him. Warrick was laughing, obviously not taking in the peril of waves heading towards them and Emily was missing, probably off to get refreshments. It was time to play dad. "I better go save your friend before you have a crime scene on the beach."

Sara and Nick watched in slight amusement at the situation and realized too what might happen. They looked at each other and their silent conversation revealed that they'd be safer where they were at. They watch Brian stroll down the beach and smiled. The situation wasn't too bad after all.

Finally alone, Nick shifted on the blanket towards Sara and put his arm around her. It was almost a surprise when she nuzzled her head into his chest.

"I sorry for not telling you about my family. No one knows everything." Sara paused. "Grissom knows some, but not everything."

Nick was silent for a moment. In the months that had followed his near death experience by being buried alive, he and Sara had become close. They were on the same shift again and Grissom and Catherine had paired them together until Nick felt he was ready to be on his own again. Sara was as logical as she was emotional and the two co-supervisors felt she would be the best one to help him get back in the game. She had, after all, be the one who stayed levelheaded enough to find where he was buried in the first place.

Together, they started out with robberies. Then they moved to attempted rapes followed by actual rapes. Each move upwards was at Nick pace. He was the one who decided if he could handle it or not. Just a few weeks ago he decided he was ready for a murder case. Grissom found a simple easy case. Robbery gone bad. Together, Nick and Sara solved the case in about forty-eight hours.

Nick couldn't have been happier with his partner arrangement. While in the ground, Nick had thought of his family. His parents, sisters, brother, and all their kids. He then thought of Grissom and Catherine. Warrick and Greg. Doc Robbins and David. Brass, Vega, and all the others dectives and lab workers that made up his Vegas family.

Then he thought of Sara. He'd skipped over her at first. Unsure of why, he thought of her more. Her hair, her eyes, her smile. He loved the way they'd always flirted so innocently. Or had it been? He vowed, along with his other vows, that if he got out alive, he'd spend more time with Sara to see if what he felt was more than a dying wish, but a living one.

After the last few months, he'd decided that it had been a deep-buried wish, and it had taken him being buried deep underground to find it.

It was time to take a chance. But first, Sara had to trust him as much as he trusted her. "You know, my childhood wasn't perfect either. My parents were so busy with their jobs they weren't around much. I was also the youngest, so most of my sisters and brother had already moved out. I was left with babysitters a lot. One night, a new babysitter molested me. I was nine."

Sara didn't look at him or say a word. She finally understood why cases involving children hurt him so much. She also could sense why he was telling her this now. It was time.

"My mother stabbed my father to death when I was about the same age as you were when you were molested. He beat her. Hard. She couldn't take it anymore. I was sent into foster care and Brian was sent back to boarding school. We talk every week on the phone, but I've always hesitated visiting him. He looks so much like my dad. But he's nothing like him at all. When he told me he was bringing his family to visit here in Vegas , it was the first time I'd seen his since the birth of Daisy."

"Sara, I like you. A lot." Nick started to stutter. Probably best to just get it all out. "I want to spend time with you outside of work."

Sara was confused. "Isn't that what we're doing now?"

"I mean alone Sara." He couldn't believe when it came to her personal life, Sara was as clueless and innocent as a child. He smiled and cupped her chin in his hands, lifting her face to meet his.

Sara's eyes found Nick's and she saw a broken man looking for redemption. She was frighten. She'd almost lost her friend once, she didn't want to lose him again to a romance if it didn't go well.

Nick saw the question in her eyes. Without any more hesitation, he kissed he gently. Sara responded and the soft kiss lasted for a moment before parting. "Don't be afraid. If there's one thing I've learned up to now it's that you may never get that second chance. Sometimes you just have to make a move to live at all."

Sara smiled softly. She glanced down the beach where her friends and family were laughing and playing. He was right. It was time to forget the past and look only at the future. She looked back at Nick and kissed him again, just as softly as the first kiss, only this time it held more meaning.

They parted and Sara gave Nick a strong hug. "Let's just do what we did with work. Take things one day at a time."

Nick smiled as he hugged her tighter. "Good idea." He released her from the embrace and jumped to his feet. "But today, Miss Sidle, you're about to get wet." He took her hands and thrusted her off the blanket and together they ran down the beach.

One step at a time.


End file.
